Night and Fire
by talking cockerel
Summary: Aido ever been rash, impetuous, and stubborn. He disregards vampire custom almost blatantly...all for one person. The Hows, Whats, Whens and Whys of his love and loyalty is an ongoing struggle. Kaname/Aido
1. Chapter 1

A/N : Hi! This is my first vampire knight story... you can probably tell that I only recently got hooked onto the manga...however, the bloodscent was something I developed based on Aido's acute ability to smell blood.

Please read and send me your commends!

Chapter 1

"So! What do you think?" Hanabusa Aido asked, settling in an armchair with a leg casually crossed over another. With one hand, he popped a pastry into his mouth, savouring its fruity sweetness. Delectable.

"Cross Academy is a school with a good reputation. My parents have settled on this already, and I agree. It's time we did something to encourage co-habitation and mutual understanding between us and the humans," Akatsuki Kain replied. He was a taller, leaner version of Aido, with wild, honey coloured locks a slight shade darkier than Aido's golden bangs.

Aido grinned and sipped at the cocktail.

"Well, I like it. Lots of humans around. Beautiful, hot blooded youths at the prime of their lives…" The last phrase was a low, sibilant murmur, filled with arousal and desire. Kain caught a red tint in Aido's pupils, and remained silent.

Cross Academy's registration and reception was a grand affair, the headmaster having invited the Vampire Council of Elders as guests of honour, as well as many other vampire nobles. Headmaster Cross was easy to spot, a gay and exuberant man amongst the more subdued Council Elders. His essence stood out amongst that of the vampires like a banana amongst apples.

It isn't unpleasant, Aido mused. Just different. Humans' bloodscents were thicker than that of vampires, warmed by the sunlight they loved and combining the mixture of animals scents from the meat they ate.

Headmaster Cross seemed to be getting along well with the uptight Council Elders, you could tell. They were all smiles and handshakes, no glinting fangs, no –

Aido stood up abtruptly. All around them, vampires in the hall stilled; their heads were turned towards the entrance, their acute sense of smell tingling with this strange new bloodscent.

Aido couldn't place it. It wasn't human, it had to be a vampire's – but –

Twin mahogany doors opened, and a tall, dark haired youth stepped through. All eyes were on him, this person who emanated the foreign scent that vibrated almost tangibly.

Who is this? Aido wondered. Why is everyone ducking? What's wrong with his scent –

The vampire turned, and for a brief moment, their gazes met, before Aido frantically bowed his head too. For now he knew who –what – this vampire was.

Vampire nobility were highly respected in the society, but this youth was a league apart. He was royalty, his blood as pure and untainted as moonlight. It was so clear, so strong – so sharp – in its purity that being around him akin to breathing thin air on a mountaintop.

"Lord Kaname Kuran…we are greatly honoured by your presence," the Head Elder and Headmaster cross bowed low as they presented themselves. The prince answered in a voice like a calm ocean that beheld great power. The three of them moved off, two elders flanking a taller, dark haired youth.

"You idiot," Kain scolded.

"I don't think he saw me staring," Aido muttered.

"Gawking like a fool! If your father knew-!"

"Hey, looks like a little bird made it in! And such a cute little hen, too!" Aido was abruptly distracted by the appearance of another student. Compared to other noble vampires, the human scent in her blood was overpowering, almost like that of a commoner. This girl was short and dark, with hair a honey-wheat colour that was lighter than her skin and cropped close to her neck.

"Only humans are off limits, right? If I could snag this girl -"

"Aaah, you and your wanton desires," Kain groused. "Insatiable, like a beast out for blood…"

"Yes, yes. Still…but the number of humans around!"

In full blown fantasy mode, almost salivating, the bloodthirsty Aido failed to see the approaching Elders and Headmaster.

"- Oi, Aido – " Kain hissed, trying to warn him.

"I wouldn't let those passionate, energetic, full blooded bodies go to waste!"

Vampires around them, having hushed as they gradually caught onto Aido's words, were completely quiet at his last sentence. The last triumphant declaration by Hanabusa Aido fell on a hall of silence like a clanging bell.

Aido blinked and work his mouth, like a student caught daydreaming. In front of him was the Headmaster, slender brows forming an ominous V shape over his nose. Next to him, Head Elder of the Council glared at the young vampire with a calculative gaze.

But it was not these two that scared Aido. Kaname Kuran stood between then, and for the second time in minutes, Aido looked into his eyes, mind racing.

He didn't see it coming, but he heard the sharp "crack" and felt the pain an instant later. Kaname raised his hand a second time and stuck Aido across the other cheek.

"Beg forgiveness, you fool!" Aido sensed his father's thought, and fell to his knees at Kaname's feet.

"As you obey the law of your people, you will obey the rules of your school. Headmaster Cross has stated that human blood is forbidden."

Kaname's voice slid over Aido like a razor over skin, smooth but authoritative.

"Forgive me, Lord," he said.

"That boy should be reprimanded for actions that befit that of a human turned vampire. Impetuous in manner, complete disregard for protocol –"

"No." Kaname interrupted the Head Elder. "He has been rebuked already." Aido's heart thumped rapidly. The Head Elder was a sticker for regulations, and had been known to strip nobles of aristocratic status when they failed his standards. To be disowned, dishonoured like a degenerate.

Aido felt a long, cool hand tilt his head upwards.

"What is your name?"

"H-Ha-Hanabusa Aido," said the blonde vampire. "My family and honour is at your service, lord," he added the customary greeting.

"Hanabusa Aido," Kaname repeated. "You are young and rash still…but…you will learn your place, and you will learn it well."

Two pairs of eyes, one bright blue and shining like a sapphires, the other brown and gold flecked, were beautiful in their strength and intensity.

"Yes…my lord."

Aido spoke in a voice that was strong and clear, his words tapering off into a gentle whisper. None who heard those three words misunderstood the pronoun nor the reverence that laced them.

From then on, Hanabusa Aido belonged to Kaname Kuran … mind, soul and body.

END

This is a series chronicalling the relationship between Kaname and Aido. I think they might have met before attending Cross Academy, but I'm ignoring that possibility for now D


	2. Chapter 2

A/N : Hi again! I've realized that the Kaname / Aido part is going to take a lot longer than I thought to come in…but I want to build up their relationship first. I hope that's fine with you guys!

Chapter 2

"Headmaster Cross," Kaname greeted as he slid into a chair.

The Headmaster of Cross Academy didn't look up from the sheaf of letters he was rifling through.

"What do you know of the attack on Kohake district two months ago?" Cross asked after awhile. His serene eyes were veiled with disquiet, and as he placed the papers on his desk he stood up, moving to the window which overlooked his beloved school.

"Where did the next attack occur?" Kaname asked instead. The youth spoke with his eyes half lidded, almost like a lazy cat basking in sunlight, but Cross felt the pureblood's displeasure like cold fingers along his spine.

"Yakuzei village reported a massacre by a pack of wolves … blood everywhere, bodies mangled, throats ripped out… people claim to have seen men in possession of demons and spirits… I do not think this is a coincidence, Kaname…"

Kaname ran his fingers through his hair.

"Shizuka Hiou is the youngest daughter in her family clan. They are one of the oldest pureblood lines, almost rival to the Kuran clan. Shizuka is a princess known for beauty…and ruthlessness.

"She has a human turned vampire as a lover – whether or not by the blood bond, I do not know. They are certainly very close, and the level E has never lost his insanity.

"Now, however, the Kiryuu clan of vampire hunters are hot the trail of this...male. He is in hiding, and it seems his separation from Shizuka has led her to…infect other humans. There is no solid evidence, but I believe they did take the bond of blood."

Cross knew the effects of a blood bond. If Shizuka and her lover had indeed sated their lusts on each other, the separation would have driven Shizuka to bite other humans to prevent her madness.

"Well, Cross, our goals for cohabitation are one. I will go to the next site of attack to deal with these…degenerates. What information do you have for me?"

Cross looked up, eyebrows raised.

"Hizan is the next target…given its remoteness and proximity to forests and mountains, like Kohake and Yakuzei, I would say this is a good guess. But you will not go alone? The numbers are large…perhaps a few dozen."

"Not alone…Seiren will accompany me, as will Kain of the Akatsuki clan, third son of my grandfather's cousin."

"Ka – ? Oh, the girls call him Wild. Then you'll have to bring his cousin Hanabusa as well…they're inseperable."

"If that is all…have the necessary transport and arrangements be ready by this evening. We leave at the first rise of the moon." Kaname turned to leave, but stopped.

"Oh, and say hi to Yuki for me."

Two nights later, four vampires dressed in dark pants and branded leather jackets waited amongst the shadows of the rising moon. They were in the village Hizan, a small town with inhabitants who had lived in undisturbed peace for years. Tonight, however, the aura of taint and contamination permeated the tranquility of this town.

"Remember…we are here as guardians only. You will not … take advantage … of any humans," Kaname spoke softly. The other vampires heard him, but it was aimed mostly at Aido.

The others stirred; the level E vampires were approaching and Kaname's anger shone in his eyes; they were dark and rich as wine, and his bloodscent every bit as potent and intoxicating. Beside him, Aido was barely conscious of eagerly lengthening fangs; Kaname's essence grated on his like shards on bare skin, stoking his already smoldering fervor.

The first scream tore through darkness like a knife through paper. A moment's silence – then the quiet, sleepy town erupted around into chaos. Doors were smashed down, curtains were torn – shrieks and bellows coalesced like a panicked orchestra.

"Go!" Kaname roared, and leapt out at the nearest degenerate, claws unsheathed and fangs bared. Seiren shot out in a blur; fast as a cat and twice as vicious, she slashed and cut at her opponents with unnerving ferocity, twisting and ducking with feline agility.

Kain stepped out, embers dancing along his fingers and a deadly light in his eyes. Flames lit up like rearing cobras from the dusty streets, hissing and twisting; they raced out to meet their enemies, and writhing shadows emitted the scent of burning flesh.

The scent of blood, rusty and viscous with decay and corruption, filled Aido's nostrils. The assault overcame his hesitation of this unfamiliar violence and danger, and he let loose his power with wild abandon. Icy winds howled around him, and slivers of ice, sharp as glass, embedded in the degenerates; several flying vampires fell, their wings frozen and encased in ice.

If the villages saw the four pairs of glowing red eyes and the inhuman strength with which they fought, they neither acknowledged nor remembered. In the terror, they fled into the village hall, the fortress in time of attack.

More degenerates arrived at the scene, and the scent of their filthy blood was like a curse

that drained the noble vampires' consciousness and self control.

It was probably less than hour, and yet Aido's strength was failing. A savage red miasma was clouding his vision. The scent of blood assaulted him like waves tossing a ship – he didn't meet the powerful blow from his adversary in time and the following kick crumpled him against a wall. His head thumped painfully, breaking the bloodlust but making his vision swirl. When it cleared, he looked at a pair of gaping jaws and heard the snarl of triumph as they prepared to close on around his throat –

Only there was no pain – Aido was screaming his head off, very much alive, his throat unpierced. Fear drove him on, and icicles flew unbidden from his hand to the degenerate. There was the sickening sound of ripping flesh, the moan of agony and a bloodthirsty hiss.

Aido stared at the glassy eyed vampire, now dead, entrails hanging by a clawed fist that belonged to yet another vampire…

Seiren whirled and slammed a foot into a chest – how many times, how many victims, she didn't care. She didn't stop. The guttural gurgling of another behind her – she took this one out with a swift rake of claws, and then jumped high to avoid a third lunging at her. Flames burst out around her in a circle, driving the degenerates back, giving her a moment's respite. Then she and Kain were back to back, and the last of the vampires were slinking away, hiding from these formidable warriors that had robbed them of their prey…

A pallid face loomed behind Kaname. He scarcely batted an eye as he reached back and caught him full in the neck, ripping out his throat.

Aido faced him, still against the wall, heaving and panting. The vampire that had nearly killed Aido was dead at Kaname's feet. His blood was congealing in the cold air already, mingling with the gut wrenching stench of burnt and bloodied vampire corpses. Aido gulped once, twice, thrice, trying not to gag on the smell.

There was an odd, fiery sensation in his belly, and there was another unpleasant smell – sharp and sour, quite different from the others.

"Ugh…disgusting," Kain commented, wrinkling his nose. Aido had demonstrated his nausea with a very well aimed jet of vomit… a puddle of which pooled on Kaname's patent leather shoes.

Aido belatedly saw the rip in Kaname's jacket, and realized that the pureblood had thrust his arm between Aido and the rogue vampire, taking the bite that would have killed the younger noble.

"Kaname sama! You were bitten …" Seiren trailed off, then glared at Aido. "You bungling fool! Kaname sama, I should have been more careful –"

"No, Seiren, I am fine, and the fault was not yours. You were invaluable as always. Kain, accompany her back to the helicopter. I will have a word with Hanabusa."

Seiren bit her tongue and flashed Aido another disgusted look. She turned and Kain followed hesistatingly, not wanting to disobey Kaname but unwilling to leave Aido.

Kaname waited till the both of them were out of earshot, then turned to Aido.

"Your incompetence was a severe liability and could have gotten you killed. Next time, do not separate from the rest of your group as you will have little chance of support and will be easily surrounded by your enemy."

His voice was harsh, chastising, and Aido hung his head.

"However, your courage and ferocity is commended … only do not let your heart passion overtake your mind. Hanabusa Aido, look at me…"

Aido obeyed, and to his surprise saw warmth in those dark eyes.

"You have done very well, Aido."

"Did I really?"

"Yes…as good as Kain."

"Ha! Wait till I tell him – I mean, thank you, my lord." But Kaname had already turned around and was walking down after Kain and Seiren.

"My lord?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about your shoes…"

"Don't be. Your job is to clean them once we're back at school."

"…yes, my lord…"

END

Thank you for reading! Review, please!


	3. Chapter 3

AN : Finally! Chapter three!!

* * *

"I'll do something really great!"

Kain knew better than to speculate on this peculiar outburst. If he ignored it, hopefully Aido would lose interest in this idea of his.

"I'll go build a country, or conquer a civilization, or rid the world of poverty, and then Kaname-sama will be so impressed, he'll just have to fall head over heels in love with me."

Kain rolled his eyes at this proclamation of Aido's. That boy, just never seemed to change. Right now he was lolling on the four poster bed, wearing only his favourite pajamas bottoms, hair and limbs flung akimbo.

"I'll do something really great," he repeated, a large dopey grin on his handsome face.

"Well. Good luck." Kain grunted indifferently. Seriously. It was only 6 o clock at night, the sun hadn't even begun to set, it was a perfect, _early _beginning to Saturday, and Aido would never rouse enough enthusiasm to crawl out of bed.

Aido took a deep breath, counted to ten, and crawled out of bed.

"I'm going to something great. I'll start with breakfast. What time d'you think Kaname-sama awakes?"

_Cook?_

Without waiting for an answer, Aido skipped happily out of the room.

_Cook? This I gotta see. _

Kain took some time to wash up and change into something more presentable. He wasn't lackadaisal about his appearance, as most people thought. He was fashionably casual.

All too soon, the echoes of a chaotic clash-banging reached his ears. Kain hurried out to the kitchen, where he stopped short.

Boy oh boy, was Kaname going to be mad.

The resident cook stood in one corner, gesturing and groaning helplessly as his precious pots and pans were made brutal sport of by one very beautiful, very handsome, very happy vampire in, of all things, strawberry and banana print pajama bottoms.

A saucepan of something was bubbling monotonously on a stove. With one hand, Aido prodded it gingerly with a wooden spoon. When he withdrew the spoon, it was coated in a brown aromatic substance.

"Hey Kain! Come try this chocolate. I found an old block of it in the freezer, I'm trying to melt it." He waved the wooden spoon as he said this, and melted chocolate flew in a sludgy brown arc across the floor.

Kain grimaced.

Aido left the chocolate, and cleared a space on the countertop by sweeping the jars and glasses up against the wall. They clinked together ominously.

"I've eaten this once. It's called pasta, and I found a recipe for hand making it…" Aido dragged out a musty sack of white powder from under the table.

"Hm…make a mound with ten pounds of flour, a crater in the middle, and crack twenty eggs into the crater, slowly incorporating the flour in until you get a ball of dough." The noble recited from memory as he worked.

He poured what was most definitely not ten pounds of flour onto the table, scattered most of it away with the speed of his excited actions, shaped it into a volcano-like thing, and made a dent in the middle.

"…ah..ah…excuse me, but…" the cook tried to speak up. Aido waved him to silence with a blue eyed glare. Being only a common vampire, the cook subsided.

When Aido cracked his first egg, he did it surprisingly well. The round yellow yolk beamed up at him from its position in the crater. Aido beamed back.

Soon, there were twenty sunny yellow discs beaming in all their perfectly rounded radiance, cheerfully mingling in a floury round trough.

Aido did a little jig of ecstasy. Kain was treated the sight of a bright green band peaking over the top of flashing strawberry and banana pants.

That done, Aido proceeded to stir in the flour from the sides of the crater. All was going well until a wavelet of egg spilled over one edge and trickled down, causing serious erosion in the flour mound. Aido nimbly scooped up some flour from the other side and patted it down, attempting to tide the flow of twenty eggs.

The whole mountain collapsed.

The yellow discs winked mischievously before they slipped off on their own separate paths, leaving a trail of sticky and floury destruction in their wake.

Aido would later say that he saved the whole situation with his speed-of-light reflexes, all made with the icy-cool calm borne of his powers. He made a barrier of ice around the table that kept the eggs and flour in a circle, and proceeded to concoct a divine entrée of handmade pasta.

Well, the truth wouldn't have been so far off, if it hadn't been for the cook.

"Kain! Kain, you useless bumbling idiot, help me!" Before Akatsuki could respond, Aido had an idea.

He made a wall of ice that did manage to keep the pasta mixture from spilling over the table top.

As quickly as that, the disaster was contained.

At that moment the chocolate started frothing merrily in its saucepan. Aido turned around, whipped it off the fire, switched the fire off. Aido inhaled its velvety rich scent, and admired the way the layers cooled and lightened at the top when he tilted the pan, leaving the darker chocolate at the bottom.

"Ahhh…feast your eyes upon the sacred elixir of Mount Olympus!" Aido stated, mentally pocketing this phrase for Further Refinement so he could use it to impress his fangirls.

"The Greek Gods drank nectar, not chocolate," stated Rima Touya as she slipped her petite frame past Kain and into the kitchen.

Aido looked down at her with a grin. She was so small and pretty, barely up to his chest, feisty as a sparrow and twice as sharp.

"Well, I've just created a better replacement! The roasted fruit of the cacao tree, blended and infused with the froth of rich milk…would you like some, little starling?"

Rima snorted, used to her friend's overblown antics.

"What's all this?"

Aido froze.

He recognized that voice.

He turned around, and froze again, for a completely different reason.

"Aido..."

"Ah…Ka…ah…Ka…Kain…"

Just behind the wall and out of Aido's sight, Kain doubled over with silent laughter.

Kaname stood leaning in the doorway, the cook looking nervously around him, eyeing Aido with slight annoyance, but that wasn't the reason Aido was speechless.

The pureblood prince seemed to have just awoken. His hair was messy, each raven wave an artful tangle that framed his alabaster countenance. Half lidded eyes were narrowed above a pursed mouth. One hand rested on the doorframe, the other on his waist.

He wasn't wearing a shirt, just long blue bath robe, untied, thrown over black pants. Every muscle on his defined torso stood out clearly.

"Aido."

"Um."

Aido couldn't help but stare. The saucepan of chocolate tilted…tilted more…a little more…and a hot dollop of chocolate dropped onto his bare foot.

He inhaled, but kept in the yelp of surprise.

Kaname looked around, at twenty pairs of egg shells chucked on the floor, an open bag of flour which contents were being steadily removed by the wind, the mess of pots and pans that had been dug out of the cupboard, the trail of chocolate.

"_Hanabusa Aido." _

The poor boy couldn't help it. His composure cracked.

So did the ice surrounding the pasta mixture.

With an almost audible whoop, twenty eggyolks burst their icy banks and continued their joyous way down the table. They found their way into the cabinet of silverware, the drawer of porcelain utensils, the rack of silken tablemats, the collection of expensive glassware.

Kaname, Kain, Aido and Rima looked on in shock.

Aido dropped the saucepan in horror, adding to the mess. A deluge of chocolate swamped the sparkling kitchen floor like an edible larher.

It was a veritable carnage of cleanliness.

"Shit!"

No, this wasn't from Aido, he was too refined. It was from the cook. The cleaning up wasn't what he was worried about, it was the cost of damage to priceless cutlery that he was looking at.

"Take the day off, Cook. I will handle this. Be back before dawn, and you'll have everything back to the way it was." Trust Kaname to keep his head during disaster.

"But…"

"Take a day off," Kaname said again, and the stunned cook nodded and stumbled off in a daze.

Rima mumbled her excuses and left, too.

Aido hung his head, waiting to be reprimanded. To his surprise, Kaname walked towards the sink, picked up a couple of dishcloths and started to wipe down the sticky floury mess on the table.

"Kaname-sama – !" Aido was horrified. He had never even picked up his own socks. "Please don't – I'll, you see, it's my fault -…"

Kaname disregarded him, placing the dirtied cutlery into the sink to be washed.

"I'm sorry – " Aido tried again, but Kaname brushed past him brusquely, his mouth a tight line, picking up some flour stained plates and bowls.

"I was only trying to – "

The long robe was hampering his work. Kaname shrugged it off and tossed it onto a chair, and continued to clean up.

Kain looked on uncertainly from the outside. Should he make himself noticed? That fool cousin of his was standing on his two feet, not even helping, while Kaname worked around him the way one would round a statue.

Aido did not take being ignored well. He threw tantrums when Kain ignored his ideas, he sulked when girls ignored his advances, he seethed when other adults ignored him.

The sight of that tall, black haired figure bent over the sink, long hands gracefully soaping the dishes, purposefully paying him no heed…

When Kaname ignored him, for whatever reason, his heart was ready to break.

He stood and clenched his fists to his sides, biting his lip, baby blue eyes screwed up in hurt, a beautiful adult-child clad in his strawberry-banana pajama pants.

It seemed to go on forever, while Kaname stoppered the sink and filled it up.

"Please, Kaname-sama…"

Kaname dried his hands, then folded them and leaned against the counter, looking at Aido.

"Kaname – "

"When I called your name three times, you refused to answer. Are you willing to tell me now, why Cook came to my room at the slip of dusk, decrying a rabid delinquent in his kitchen?"

Aido swallowed.

"Well…you see I…"

How to continue?

"I wanted to do something great."

Aido's gaze dropped from his lord's eyes, down to his chin, then the smooth white column of his neck.

"I wanted to do something great…so I …decided…"

His collarbones stood out so perfectly, a smooth ridge over a hollow.

"…to cook breakfast…"

His chest was lean and muscled, not single bit of fat beneath his skin.

"…for you…" his eyes' sojourn ended on Kaname's feet, long toed and elegant.

Kaname sighed. He crouched down and wiped the chocolate off Aido's feet with a cloth.

Aido made an odd sound and scrunched up his toes.

"What will I ever do with you…Hanabusa Aido…?" a gentle, drawn out question that held no anger.

In answer, Aido went to the sink and started scrubbing the cutlery. He was so inexperienced, soapy bubbles flew everywhere and burst around them. But he continued to work, furrowing his brow in determination, slopping some water now and then over the table top.

"Just you wait...Kaname-sama, one day, I'll do something great…Something really great, Kaname-sama…just you wait and see…"

_I'll do it for you, and I won't even mess it up…I'll do it perfectly alright, and then…_

He felt Kaname's hand in his hair briefly, then he was alone in the kitchen, left to his own dreams.

END

* * *

After Kaname, Aido is my favourite character...he's just so charmingly loveable, and so loyal!

Review review review!


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

"Right, I'll get it, and you keep a look out. If you see, hear or smell anyone coming, bark twice like a dog." Aido's voice floated down from above.

Kain scowled.

"That's stupid. If there's anyone coming, I'll whisper _someone's coming, _and if you can't hear and get caught you can blame it on your build up of earwax." Did he think this was some sort of game?! Bark like a dog, indeed. There were no dogs in Cross Academy. For goodness' sake…

His gaze went to Aido, who was balancing precariously on a window ledge ten feet above the ground. Kain would not have cared had Aido been on any other ledge, as long as he was not directly below.

This time, however, he _was _directly beneath Aido; in fact, he was serving as a lookout, watchdog and backup landing cushion while Aido tried to open the windows from the outside.

Of course it just had to be Kaname sama's window he was prying open, just as it just had to be Kaname sama's room Aido was attempting to break into, and it just had to be something of Kaname sama's that he wanted to steal.

Aido had not wanted to tell him what that 'something' was.

"Argh! My nail!"

Fool.

"I got it! It's open! It's – hang on – yes!"

There was a whoop and a crash, then some thumping sounds.

"Will you be silent!"

The thumping sounds receded into muffled scuffling. There was a muted cacophony of clicking, ruffling, hissing, and even a happy whistling.

A car honked, and Kain jumped. Something rustled behind him, and he whipped around, only to see a bushy tailed squirrel leaping past.

"Got it!"

More noise, and then Aido was standing on the ledge again, bearing an armful of papers, folders and notebooks.

"What!" Kain's jaw dropped. "You took his school things?"

"I knew you would react this way, which is why I didn't tell you before! I need to ace the final exams! Have you not seen the state of my report card this term?" Aido closed the windows and leapt off the edge, landing perfectly.

"Besides, I'll do it quickly, and have it back in place before he returns! We have until tomorrow night, after all. I'll drop them in the evening, just to be safe." With that ample justification, he hurried off, Kain trailing him with arguments already.

"That's copying, it's cheating, it's despicable and unfair to the other students," Kain pointed out as they went back to their rooms.

"I am _not _copying, cheating, or otherwise. I'm merely borrowing his notes to study!"

"All you ever do during lessons is draw obscene images. Why can't you take your own – Why can't you use mine, for that matter!"

"I do! And I could, but you need yours now. And just, for…comparison, and the like."

They reached their room, and Aido immediately spread the notes over his table.

"You could have taken Takuma Ichijou's! Why go to all the trouble and get Kaname sama's!"

"Kain – seriously! I'm trying to study here!"

Fine, leave him be.

Kain turned to his own biology diagrams. _The krebs cycle differs from the citric cycle in that it undergoes both oxidative phosphorylation…_

_Stupid Hanabusa. Why get notes in the most difficult way possible?_

…_and substrate level phosphorylation. Its beginning reactant is glucose-6-phosphate…_

"Ah…"

Kain turned in annoyance and saw Aido slumped over onto his desk, on top of Kaname's files and papers. His eyes were half closed in pleasure and there was a beatific grin on his face.

"It's absolutely wonderful, Kain."

"Mm." …_glucose-6-phosphate, which rearranges into an isomer of fructose-6-phosphate…_

"I don't know how he does it!"

"Mm." …_other reactants include Nicotine Adenine Dinucleotide and the hydrogen proton…_

"All his things smell so strongly of him!"

"Uh…mm…"

"Do you think it's cologne, or just him? Maybe I'll ask Ruka for the brand name, girls know lots about perfume and make up stuff – "

"It's like how chocolate makes everyone happy, only in this case it's not chocolate, it's Kaname-sama!"

Kain highly doubted Kaname's smell made everyone happy, but reigned himself in and returned to biology.

"I'd do anything to have a Kaname-sama covered in chocolate…"

Kain thought back to a sleazy magazine article he had once read in a shop.

"…Ah…no, not covered in chocolate…I want a life sized, chocolate statue of Kaname-sama!

"A chocolate Kaname-sama that I can put in my room!

"I'd never eat it, ever…unless maybe a finger or two…"

Kain scratched his nose uncomfortably. His thoughts were getting more and more unruly by the second.

"No! Scratch that, I'll never eat any part of it! I'll just go back to my room after a long, tiring day and lie there breathing in the chocolatey Kaname smell. It's gonna be heaven, Kain – since we share a room, you'd be able to smell him…it? …. Are chocolate statues pronouns? … Anyway, you'd be able to smell the smell too!"

_There was something to be said about this vampire's overactive pheromones. They were just … so … incredibly…_

"I've always been a fan of "Calico Pocky"(1). Do you think they'd make a Calico Pocky Kaname chocolate statue if I asked?"

…_overblown._

"Why don't you call them and see," Kain suggested snidely. "I'll lend you my phone to call long distance, and if they say yes you can bob your head like an owl, or if they say no you can wiggle your hips like a snake."

He half expected Aido to jump up in agreement, so enraptured was his cousin by the young pureblood noble. But Aido only sighed again and closed his eyes, snuggling down into the files and worksheets.

It was obvious that no work would be done by Hanabusa Aido that night. He refused to even go down to lunch or dinner.

"I'm too busy studying," he told Kain, burying his nose further into Kaname's leatherback organizer.

When Kain returned from dinner, he was utterly aghast at the scene that greeted him.

Aido had taken advantage of Kain's disappearance to help himself to a navy blue jacket that he did not own. It was positively saturated with a certain scent that Kain had come to avoid, for the simple reason that it involved trouble and Aido.

The young blonde beauty was wrapped in Kaname's outdoor jacket. Several pairs of tailored pants and shirts, all labeled with said strong smell, were laid out reverently on his bed.

"I _cannot _believe you just did that, Aido."

"I have a whole day before he comes back, Kain!"

"Do you have any idea how possessive some purebloods are?"

"He doesn't know!"

Desperately, Kain tried to use reverse psychology.

"Aido, _think how displeased Kaname will be with you if he finds out!"_

Aido paused to ponder this version of logic, and Kain pressed his advantage.

"Borrowing notes for revision is one thing, but clothes! Clothes are private and personal! Kaname does not deserve to have a … he does not deserve to have his personal belongings _ransacked _through, like … like goods at a supermarket sale! Have you no respect for him!

"_Honestly, _Hanabusa!" he added for good measure.

It was gratifying to see Aido frowning in discomfort.

"I'll return them," he finally murmured, collecting all the clothes.

And so he did.

A few days later, Aido was rummaging through his backpack, a look of consternation on his face.

"Have you seen my math notebook?" he asked Kain.

"What notebook? You don't pay any attention to math…oh. Wait. Is that…?"

"Yes. It is."

"Ah…"

"Aido, Kaname-sama wants you in his room," Seiren called as she walked by.

All thoughts of his lost notebook fled.

"Did you hear that! He _wants _me!" Aido gasped.

"Yeah. In his room."

"_In his room!" _a smile started from the middle and spread to Aido's ears. With a happy whoop, he bounded off. With a gloomy shake of his head, Kain resigned himself to follow.

Aido calmed down as then approached Kaname's door, and arranged his features into something like a solemn respect as they entered and walked up to his table where he sat reading a letter.

"Kaname-sama, you – wanted – me?"

"I did, Aido. Would you care to explain how this came to be in my annual report from the council of ancients?"

Kaname was holding out his math notebook.

If Aido were a mountain, the sight of that brown covered book in Kaname's hand would have reduced him to a pathetic mound of dust.

Kaname opened the book to the first page, showing an obscene picture of a naked girl, anatomically enhanced to Aido's liking. Using one hand, he flipped through each of the pages with a slow deliberate stoniness, revealing each perverted session of indulgence, all systematically dated according to the math lessons, pausing to take a closer look at one which looked remarkably like himself, until he reached the only page with any mathematical working.

"Your handwriting," Kaname murmured in a deadpan, "resembles nothing more than the scrawling tract of a centipede. Your presentation is as good as nonexistent. Your line of reasoning is general and incomprehensive. If you had but checked your work, you would realize that your hypotenuse is shorter than the other two lengths of your triangle."

"As it is, your lord father requested from me a report of your progress in school. Would you rather I submit this notebook as proof of your…dedication? Or should I just show him your actual report card?"

He paused, and realized that Aido had bypassed embarrassment, shame, fear and terror and had gone straight to complete mortification.

Later, Kain reflected that he should have had the good sense to notice Aido's nose twitching surreptitiously again. After all, the room was just loaded with Kaname's scent, and Hanabusa was just desperate at the mention of his grades.

"Kaname-sama, if I made a pocky statue out of chocolate for you, would you change the name on your report card to mine and send it to my father instead?"

Kain turned and fled with the last shreds of his sanity.

* * *

The stuff on biology? Straight from my notes! - shudders. -

I'd like to see some of Hanabusa's drawings, though! XD

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! And make my day!


	5. Chapter 5

Hi all! I'm just 'publicizing' the sequel to this story.. Strawberries in Blood! No, Night and Fire isn't complete yet. But since this is from Aido's POV and Strawberries isnt, I put it seperate =) Go check it out! ANd don't forget to review, please!

- Cheers, Talking Cockeral.


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